According to an exclusive interview Coulier gave Lumino, the Saturday Night Live bit is not a plot device that was added to the Lifetime movie for dramatic effect. Coulier successfully auditioned for Saturday Night Live — but a change in management at NBC ended his stint before it even began. The executives decided he was too similar to series regular Dana Carvey. Coulier told Lumino:

I was supposed to go to New York and be on SNL, and in the eleventh hour I ended up not going because they thought Dana Carvey and I were too similar. I told everyone in my family that I was going to New York to be on SNL, so I was crushed when they told me that I was no longer going. But then six months later I got the role on Full House, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Bustle reached out to NBC about the casting decision way back in the '80s, but did not receive a response in time for publication. But, if true we really can thank those at NBC for giving us the man we now know as our beloved Uncle Joey!